"Pull-tab" is a game of chance, commonly played in casinos and taverns. In a pull-tab game, participants purchase pull-tab cards from a large fixed pool or set. The game ends when the entire pool of cards has been purchased. The cards in a set are marked at the time of manufacture with various patterns of symbols or indicia. The indicia on the otherwise identical cards is covered when they are sold so that neither the operator nor player can see the indicia before the card is purchased. A certain number of cards in each set are manufactured with a pattern of indicia indicating that they are winners. Such winning cards will have a predetermined pay-off value: $1, $5, $1,000, etc. The remaining cards all have zero value.
The winning and losing cards are randomly mixed in the pool and externally identical. Therefore, the value of a card is not ascertainable prior to its opening upon purchase. Whether winner or loser, the value of each card is dependent only on the pattern of indicia printed thereon and therefore is predetermined at the time the cards are printed. Because the number of wining cards in a set, and the value of each, is known, the operator of the game knows the total pay-out for a game in advance, as do the players.
In one variation of the standard pull-tab games, there are multiple separate indicia on each card. With these "multi-play" cards, which may have twenty plays on a single card, the player has many opportunities to win. However, with multiple plays on each card, each multi-play card may be a winner by including at least one winning play. The pay-off values for multi-play cards, however, are typically much smaller because of the many winning combinations. Multi-play cards may be sold at higher prices than single-play cards.
Most games of chance can be described as either progressive or non-progressive. In non-progressive games, such as traditional pull-tab, participants play for a chance to win a predetermined prize, i.e., one of the winning cards. Progressive games, in contrast, involve a jackpot or prize that grows during the play of the game. Many state numbers lotteries, for instance, fall into the progressive category because the prize increases over time as more players participate. During the operation of a progressive game, a portion of each player's purchase is dedicated to the prize. Thus, the prize grows until the winning numbers are selected and the game ends. Some slot machines also offer a progressive jackpot.
While progressive games typically offer participants greater excitement and appeal because of the opportunity to win a larger prize, such games are more complex to operate. Moreover, not all games of chance lend themselves to a progressive implementation. Pull-tab, for instance, has not been amenable for implementation in a progressive game because of the use of a pre-printed set of cards with predetermined winning amounts.
Because of the popularity of traditional slot machines, which provide the player with an immediate visual indication of the outcome of a play, it is generally desirable to offer a pull-tab game which resembles a slot game. One principle way this has been achieved is by providing an automatic reader to read the cards as they are dispensed. Another way this has been achieved is by providing a separate reader to read the cards upon insertion of the cards into the reader by a player. In either system, the resulting play can then be depicted visually on a video display in a fashion replicating the appearance of a slot machine. When this type of system is used with a multi-play pull-tab card, a sequence of plays can be completed without interruption. However, because this system still uses pre-printed cards with predetermined values, it has not been amenable for implementation in a progressive format.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a progressive pull-tab game.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a gaming set of pull-tab cards suitable for use in a progressive pull-tab game.
One more object is to provide a method of conducting a progressive pull-tab game.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system suitable for conducting a progressive pull-tab game.